Highway funding in Maine is more worrisome than its pothole ridden roads

The roads in Maine are so bad that there is now a contest to see which road is the worst. The winners based on photos and stories on collapsed bridges, failed culverts and gaping potholes this is set up by the Maine Better Transportation Association. Vehicle transporters are trying to reroute themselves as to not get into the mess. This might cause a slight delay in pickup or delivery times of clients interested in car shipping. Not only are upset drivers and highway maintenance crews complaining about the roads but so are legislators. Lawmakers and highway maintenance advocates are saying that the state is going to end up facing extreme decrease in transportation funding. Also, there is a decrease in revenue base from fuel tax which is being battered as cars are becoming progressively more proficient and need less fuel. The MBTA President Randy Mace said that improvements to Maine’s highways and bridges will be $230 million less then its current two year finances. The Road Information Program, a transportation organization based in Washington said that at recent funding levels, numerous desired highway projects will not go on, pavement conditions on main roads will get worse and more miles of Maine will be limited to lighter cars. Since there is a loss in fuel tax the money is going to have to be made up somehow which is going to be difficult because highways are getting less money from federal government and state general funds.


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SC: Economist tells state lawmakers its good time to raise gas tax

According to an economist at Clemson University, they believe that the unpredictable gas prices could create a chance to raise the state’s fuel tax. The possibility of increasing the gas tax, during this time of “opportunities” facing lawmakers for tax reform was brought up by Holly Ulbrich, an economist and senior scholar with Clemson’s Strom Thurmond Institute. She believes that the gas tax is among a small group of taxes that is not indexed to inflation. Also, she has argued that even if it were coming from tax, people wouldn’t notice. Rep. Tommy Stringer, a Greenville Republican chairing the committee, disagrees and thinks that they would notice. He also believes that you can always tell where we are in the economy based on gas prices; if the gas prices rise you can than tell we are in a recession and by raising taxes on transportation at this point wouldn’t be good. Auto carriers would then have to raise vehicle shipping rates in order to compensate them for the increase in fuel prices. Robert St. Onge, the transportation secretary, thinks that agency leaders are going to have to choose between cutting expenses for a poorly maintained road system or find additional revenue.


For all of your auto shipping and car transporter needs, call N-Motion Auto Transport today for hassle free car shipping prices!

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3,000 state workers reopened N.J. roadways

On Sunday four state agencies got together and cleaned up New Jersey’s roadways so it could be reopened. Work crews from the State Department of Transportation are having to work all day to clean up the obstacles in the road that were caused from high winds and rain. DOT, NJTRANSIT, the Turnpike Authority and South Jersey Transportation Authority have sent about 3,000 workers to clean up the road ways and form detours from floodwaters. Because the storm damage was so bad people are being asked to stay off the roadways so work crews will be able to clean up faster. Hundreds of floods conditions occurred because of the state average rainfall of seven inches. This was mainly along the flood prone rivers such as the Raritan, Rockaway, Saddle and Passaic. Over 300 roadway complaints of debris and flooding have been reported to DOT and the people are being asked to visit www.511nj.org. www.511nj.org is a website designed to give up to date information on the roadways and it also provides a map of areas that are still flooded or have debris. There is still a major safety issue because the water levels in the rivers have not gone down yet. The southbound lanes on the Garden State Parkway are opened with some detours between exits 98 and 91 and the eastbound lanes on the Atlantic City Expressway will be reopened by Sunday afternoon allowing car haulers to do there job.


For all of your auto shipping and car transporter needs, call N-Motion Auto Transport today for hassle free car shipping prices!

1-855-407-4160
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DelDOT delays US 301 meeting

Hurricane Irene has caused state transportation planners to hold off on toll road plans that were planned for Wednesday. By the middle of 2012, officials hope to be working on the $747 million highway that is between west of Middletown, the Roth and Summit bridges. Last year the state lawmakers told the agency that they could start working in phases on the project. For awhile now, attempts to build the road have gone up and down. Originally, the focus was on safer conditions, reduced traffic congestion and pressure to separate local traffic from longer-distance travelers such as transporters. In more recent years, the main focus is on the support of economic development and to reduce congestion-related air pollution. Some businesses and people are supporting this project and have grown interested on seeing how it will turn out, but others don’t agree with it. Some property for the roadway has already been bought by DelDOT, but there are still 110 properties that still need to be bought. In the beginning, purchases started off with the state and buying part of an elementary school, later being turned into 236 acres of property. To complete the land purchases, the state sold $125 million in bonds along with future federal transportation subsidies. Last year, land purchases got put on hold because of controversies. A new date for the meeting has not been set yet by the state officials, but there have been a few sessions that have been scheduled at Middletown Fire Hall.

For all of your enclosed car shipping and auto transport needs, call N-Motion Auto Transport today for hassle free auto shipping rates!

1-855-407-4160
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Curbing Fleet Fuel Costs

For companies that rely on fleet vehicles, one of the most difficult aspects in fleet management is having to control fuel costs. Even though having to watch fuel costs is a boring job, it is something that has to be done in order to have a beneficial business. Technology has come a long way and luckily now, there are solutions being provided to make things simpler. Another tool that is going to help trucking companies is the use of fuel cards. They have been around over twenty five years and were originally met to make the purchase of fuel for companies easier and faster. However, they also give helpful data on fuel grade purchases, cost per gallon, odometer reading and driver/PIN/vehicle number. The down side about using these fuel cards is that the process can still difficult. The good news is that by uniting the fuel card and the GPS this will create an easy read system and will be able to manage fuel costs which will make transportation easier. This system allows you to be able to get exact information on the fueling for the fleet overall, along with the individual fuel usage of a specific vehicle. It also lets you know if any fuel is being wasted, which is going to be good for the auto transporters who have to make long trips. By getting these fuel cards for your company, you will end up realizing you are saving money, which will help your business become more profitable.

For all of your enclosed car shipping and auto transport needs, call N-Motion Auto Transport today for hassle free auto shipping rates!

1-855-407-4160
www.NMotionAutoTransport.com

Hard Times for Drivers as DOT Playing with Road Money

Hard times are ahead for the drivers who have driven on a state road system that has been underfunded and unmaintained because of the state and nation dealing with a decrease in revenues and costs rising. A process was supposed to be established by the Legislatures overhaul of the state department of transportation that was mandatory for all projects to be ranked to decide the projects to be funded. However, this process isn’t used all of the time. According to the chairman of the senate transportation committee several people who are unhappy with the transport rankings ignore them which are not okay to do. If no alterations are made in the funding process on how the state uses its road money things will become critical. Proposals adopted by Congress could cause federal aid to be cut by $200 million next year. The transportation Secretary said there are two decades of road work that needs to be done which would end up costing billions. The agency’s buying ability isn’t as good as it used to be because of inflation. $344 million is being borrowed to work on multiple projects but the I-75 project is being disproved of because people think it is not need. Many states have come up with there own different funding ideas because they can’t rely on federal funding.

For all of your enclosed car shipping and auto transport needs, call N-Motion Auto Transport today for hassle free auto shipping rates!

1-855-407-4160
www.NMotionAutoTransport.com